What should I do with you
by InMyMaster'sCloset
Summary: Since Annie was gone, Armin got used to speak with her in his mind. But, what if illusion becomes reality? It could only mean that either he lost his mind, or Annie was back... Was she? ONE-SHOOT...


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Armin, Annie, or any other mentioned character.

So... I came up with another one-shoot! And... Well, read it, if you'd please, so you can judge.

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Sun has set long time ago so now full moon shines brightly, and it's visible enough at the outside. It is night now, that time when all the sinners crawl out of their lairs to wonder around, looking for salvation. So that's what he does too. Closing the doors slowly, not to wake up his friend, he takes stealthy steps through hallway, until he's finally out.

He knows that Eren would probably laugh at him, if he only told him where he's sneaking out, on almost every sleepless night. Or that, or he would probably call Hanji and some doctors to check his mental state.

But, Armin knew that there was nothing wrong with him. Actually he was perfectly sane. He was not speaking incoherently, he had no black outs, his memory was perfect as always, and his strategies never failed him. Yes, everything was fine with his mind. But, everything was wrong with his heart, or soul, or whatever people called it.

It hurt. It hurt so much that he was afraid something maybe died in him. He couldn't feel a thing. Or rather, only thing he could feel was pain. Burning, statical pain that won't go away.

It all started when he met Annie Leonhart for the first time, damn her… He cursed her name quietly. And he felt guilt again. Did he have right to judge her? Annie was quiet, antisocial person. It took him a lot to make her to even speak with him. But, he put a lot of effort into befriending her, and, oddly, it worked. He got spellbound, and somewhere along that road, he lost his heart to a heartless woman.

Because, that was only word which could describe Annie Leonhart – Heartless! Armin bit his lip. Something in his mind screamed that he was wrong. He was thinking rationally, or at least trying to, but it seems his emotions were prevailing, again.

"_She let you live, idiot…" _Armin mentally scolded himself. _"It must have meant something! It must have meant she cared… or am I only hoping?" _How could he find out now.

But Annie betrayed them… She was foe, whose only task was to get rid of them, and kidnap Eren. Who knows what they would do to him if she succeeded! He could not let it happen, Eren was his childhood friend! So when he put all pieces together… Only thing that was left for him to do was to sell her out. Even more, he prepared a trap for her.

But, Annie already saw through it. He had to congratulate her for being smart. And then, then he felt that maybe she will find a way out and change her way of thinking. But she didn't. She fought till the very end, and she lost.

There was one important difference between them. Between their treasons. Annie betrayed her squad, Armin betrayed her. But Annie, however, never betrayed Armin. In some twisted way of thinking, he came up with this conclusion. And it only made everything worse.

Because, God forgive him but he loved her. He loved coldblooded, heartless murderer. And that love took his everything. He still loved her, even though he did not know will she ever show up again. And if she does, what would she say to him? Will she look at him in same way as before? When he was only innocent fool, when Annie was center for his world to revolve around, when he looked at her with eyes filled with happiness, filled with adoration.

Armin walked out of the range of his squad, and passed all streets of this cruel, empty city. City where terrible monsters lived, monsters called humans.

He sighted. Many times did he accuse Annie for all the wrongs she did. But he was closing his eyes towards all the wrongs they did, and all the wrongs people which they protected, also did. They were even worse than Annie.

They killed out of jealousy, out of hatred, out of envy. Annie killed to protect her life, and she did what she did out of her beliefs. Because, just like Armin, Annie believed in better world, she believed in freedom. Only differences were methods which she used. But, Armin opened his eyes, and what he saw he did not like at all. Because he, along with everyone else, did same wrong things, only he was not aware of it. He was only a pawn of some greater mastermind.

On the contrary, Annie was aware, and she knew what the price was. In the end she paid that price.

Armin clenched his fists. Air he tried to breathe seemed so heavy, his lungs were burning. Walking out of the city, he spotted place he was searching for. If someone else was in his shoes, that person would feel even a bit of fear. But, Armin felt nothing but a sorrow which was nesting in his heart.

He finally spotted what he was looking for. Huge, old tree, full of white petals, greeted him wordlessly. This was her favorite place to escape to, whenever she wanted to be alone.

Armin sat on the ground, still warm from a sunrays which where heating it the previous day. He buried face in his palm and rubbed his eyes, letting out long sigh of a tired man. Years passed since he saw her face for the last time, and yet, every time he closed his eyes, he would remember it. Every small detail about it.

How she hid her face under bangs which were covering her eyes. Her pale, soft skin he could still feel under his palms, just like when he touched her face. Her beautiful, baby blue eyes which stared at him, sometimes strictly, and sometimes, when no one was around, gently, almost lovingly. Sometimes, tears would make those beautiful eyes blurry, and Armin would start to panic. Less did he know that it was due to a pain she was feeling, for she knew that day would come when she will have to betray him. A man she stated she loved like no one before. But now, he knew.

Armin though a lot about Annie, and being able to look through her eyes, he learned a lot about world. He learned things which his previous, innocent self probably would never understand.

"Somehow I knew I'd find you here…" her voice called out of somewhere. He looked up and this time noticed her sitting on one branch, above his head. Was it a ghost, a wraith, hallucination of a madman, or simply an incarnation of his conscience, Armin was not sure. But she was there, like she always would, and that was all he mattered about.

"Of course I am… I've been loosing sleep lately." He complained. She chuckled a bit.

"You look different…" she noticed, frowning slightly.

"I cut my hair. Eren says I looked like a girl too much."

"Why are you even listening to that brat?" Now it was Armin's turn to let out small laughter.

"Though he's not a brat anymore, Annie."

"Seems like time certainly did not wait for me, no?" she asked with amused smile adorning her lips.

"Aren't you talkative tonight?" He shoots at her shamelessly. In his mind, he would always talk to her freely. It seemed she did not mind. Like she decided to share a lot.

"Is that a problem? I thought you liked whenever I start to talk. As you would always say, this way you can actually realize the way I think." Annie was swinging her feet like a child.

"True…" his neck started to hurt a bit, from looking up all the time, but he did not want to take his eyes off of her, fearing that she might disappear. "Aren't you coming down?"

"Not yet… I want to make sure something first." She put on her serious face again. "Tell me Armin… have you missed me? Even a bit?" Quietly spoken, hurtful question struck him.

"Like the sun misses moon. Like the night sky misses stars. Like a shadow that needs sunlight." He saw her cheeks turning slightly red. "Are you angry with me, Annie?"

"Why would I be?" she glanced him with suspicion.

"I _betrayed_ you! I was the one who set a trap for you! After everything we had…" he choked on his words.

"Oh, that… I must say, it would hurt a lot more if I wasn't expecting it. But Armin… Since the moment I met you, I knew you'd be my punishment." She waved away slightly, as if words she just said did not fall on his heart like a ton heavy weight.

"And again… I continued our little charade, and it turned out into something much more. " she finally concluded.

"I'm sorry, Annie." She shook away.

"Don't be… Criminals get what they deserve in the end, but I was lucky enough I had you to make my retribution sweet."

"What are you… Annie, you just can't be like this… this…-"Her laugh cut him.

"I had a lot of time to rethink. And also to decide. Should I die, or should I live. Should I kill or should I spare? Should I love, or should I hate… for once in my life, I wanted to be a good person, like the one you always saw me as…" she finally jumped off. He stared at her in surprise.

Did his imagination go wild? Because, Armin was sure he heard a muffled thud when she landed on her feet.

"What is it?" she stared at him with her usual frown.

"Y-you stand… " his mouth were opening an closing, but he couldn't find words to explain. He, Armin Arlert, was speechless for the first time in his life.

"Are scared of me?" Annie took two steps back as she embraced her body. "I won't hurt you Armin, I swear." Annie continued looking at him, with now disappointed eyes.

But, Armin was not scared. He tried to say that, as he shook his head quickly. Instinctively, he hurried towards her and quickly hugged her. Really hugged her. He could feel her small body pressed onto his, he could feel it, when she leaned her head on his chest.

He could feel it all, and his mind and his heart both raced. It simply was impossible for Annie to be here, he knew that. So, if this was a dream, he never wanted to wake up. All he wished was to hold her in his arms forever.

"What's going on?" she spoke into his shirt. Her voice was muffled, but confusion he did recognize.

"You're here…" she said, and his voice sounded cheerful, it vibrated with suppressed laughter.

"I think we already deduced that, stupid." She stepped away a bit, as much as his arms let her to.

"But… I though I was imagining things. I though you were…a ghost." He finished, feeling like a real idiot. Annie burst out in laughter. He just watched her, with his heart thumping fast, and with grin on his face.

"Armin, I'm wondering should I start to worry." She inspected his face, and he bowed his head down a bit. "I'll think that you were going around, speaking with ghostly me, or my picture…- You didn't?!" he said nothing and Annie snickered.

"You stupid, stupid..." she squeezed him again, hiding her face in his shirt.

"I'm a genius, how can you call me stupid…" he grunted, slightly offended. Armin gave her enough time to pull herself together, and face him again when she's ready.

"Say, Annie… How did you manage to come back?"

"It's easy, once you make a decision." She shrugged.

"I'm glad…" he simply said, and grinned again. Annie stared at him for couple of moment, not saying a word, before she twirled her lips into a pout and turned away with her arms crossed."

"A-Annie? Is something wrong?" she said nothing, just ignored him.

"What is it?! Did I do something wrong?" he started to panic now.

"Oh, nothing… It's just that, I came back after _some_ time… a pretty long time!"

"Yeees?" he tried to instigate her to speak.

"Nothing…" He frowned. _"Think, Armin… think fast!" _ At that moment, a bulb lighted above his head and he smirked. After all, Annie was woman. As much as she avoided acting like one, she couldn't escape from that pattern of behavior. It just was rooted in her female genes. He saw many other girls acting the same way around guys! She was pouting.

Some would think that it was pretty obvious, but it's because some are woman too, and Armin was a guy. He needed time to realize it, with his, typical manly, way of thinking.

"Hmm… well, something is wrong. You should just say it, you know." He faced her again.

Annie's face still wore a deep scowl, and she turned her head away. She was ashamed.

"Is it possible that we continue where we left off?" straightforward, as always. "I can't expect you to…-" before she said a word more Armin gently touched her chin and made her to face him.

"Who is stupid now?" even if she wanted to Annie wouldn't be able to stop him, when his face leaned towards hers and he placed his lips on her gently. She closed her eyes, returning him kiss, but he moved away and spoke again, his warm breath cuddling her neck.

"I can't escape from you even if I wanted to…" leaning his forehead against hers, he stared at her eyes. Armin did not miss to notice how her cheeks turned bright red.

"Stupid…" was everything she said.

"Annie, what am I going to do with you?" she broke their eye contact as she chuckled.

"Just love me, it will be enough."

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There! A happy ending! God, what was I thinking when I wrote this... xD I'm sorry that it turned out so.. umm... fluffy and all... I felt like I could give them a little love! Don't blame me... xD Feel free to leave your **opinion**.


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